October 10, 2009

The Berliner is a rich cake style doughnut filled with your choice of jelly or curd. These doughnuts were part of our "Mo-down" extravaganza.

Since filled doughnuts are only enjoyed by the adults at my house, I used one of our favorites lime curd. However, you could use your favorite jelly instead. Jam or preserves don't work as well if you use an injector pastry tip.

These were delicious and got rave reviews from the adult judges at the "Mo-down." The kid judges elected not to participate in this event, since they don't like filled doughnuts. My husband and I had never had a cake style filled doughnut, but my parents had in years past. They shared a wide variety of memories of filled old-fashioned type doughnuts from their various neighborhood bakeries where they grew up.

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir. In a medium bowl, pour in all the liquid ingredients and blend together. Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir together. Dough should form into a slightly soft ball.

2. Place the dough ball in the center of a sheet of parchment paper sprinkled with arrowroot starch. Divide the dough into 8 or 9 pieces of equal size. Shape each piece of dough into a round ball and then press lightly with your palm to flatten slightly. Transfer to another sheet of parchment paper that has arrowroot starch sprinkled on it. Continue until all pieces of dough have been shaped. Place the dough in a warm location and allow to rise for 2 hours.

3. Preheat the oil to 350 degrees F/177 degrees C. Transfer a few of the Berliners at a time into the oil. Cook each side about 1 minutes or until golden brown. The 2nd side might take 30 seconds or so longer to cook.

4. Lift the Berliners out of the oil with a spider or slotted spatula. Allow the excess oil to drain off before placing on a paper towel lined cookie pan.

5. Put an injector tip on a pastry bag and fill with jelly or curd. When the Berliners are cool enough to handle, inject 1 oz/28 g of jelly or curd. Dip both sides of the Berliner into cane sugar and then sift confectioner's sugar over them.